Storage battery.



W. A. CROWDUS.

STORAGE BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, |917.

Patented June 11, 1918.

v TED sTATEs PATENT o WALTER A. CROWDUS, F CHICAGO, Il'ffll'fll'll'OIS.

sronnen BETTEEY.

Application led May-22, 1917. Serial No. 170,169.

To all lwhom t may concern.' w

Be it known that I, WALTER A. CRowDUs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Storage Batteries, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My 1nvention relates to improvements in the class of drystorage-batteries, in which the electrolyte or excitant employed is non-'flowing and comprises suitable absorbent n# inert solid matter holdingthe liquid excitant, which is distributed throughout the solid mass.

In charging a battery of the type referred to, the resultantgas-production augments the volume of the liquid, tending to cause it tooverflow the jar or container and thus be Wasted and produceimpoverishment of lthe cell; and one o f the more important objects oimy invention is to provide against these effects. Another importantobject is .to provide for automatically maintainin the proper degree ofsaturation of the soli absorbent matter with the liquid excitant in amanner to cause surplus thereof to become stored Within the battery-celland to oxude from the storage into the solid matter or holder wheneverthe latter becomes im-, poverished of the liquid.

These and other objects are accomplished by the construction illustratedin the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section ofav storage battery embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is averticalsection of the same at a rightangle to the section on which Fig. 1 istaken, with, the'lower part of the structure broken away; Fig. 3 shows'a plan View of the cell before'it is filled with the solid liquidabsorbent matter and forme'd; Fig. 4 isan enlarged perspective viewshowing'two of the grids to which vthe active material, or' material tobe rendered active, is applied and a disassociated terminal of desiredconstruction for uniting grids; and 5 is a bottom plan view of a plug orstopper for .venting the overofw-chamber of gas geny latter,

and in which the'y material, or material to be rendered active, and ofwhich two are shown for the positive element of the battery, areconnected across their upper ends by a bar 9 provided with a terminalbinding-post 10. For this connection each grid has a lug 11 formed onits upper edge near one corner, andthe bar 9 has openings 12 in itsend-portions to lit over the lugs; and these parts may be leadburned tounite them. Grids 13, like the grids 8, and of which three yare Shownfor the vnegatife element, have each end-grid likewise provided With-alug 11 to enter openings 12 in a bar 9 carrying a bindingpost 10a; thisbar being likewise secured to the end-grids 13 and also to theintermediate grid, Which it crosses, as by lead-burning. The grids 8have sections cut out of their upper edges, as represented at 14, wherethe bar 9a crosses them -to be spaced from the and the same is the caseof the grids 13 where they are crossed by the bar 9.

With the elements 8 and 13 introduced into the container 6, through itsopen end, extend short of the latter for the purpose hereinafter elained, a desired number of tubes 15 of axdequa'tely stiE porousmaterial, such as porous paper, are inserted into the container between.it and the element-forming These tubes are preferably closed at theirends, as represented. The absorbent holder 16 for the liquidelectrolyte, which may be acidulated water, is introduced into-thecontainer, lling it preferablyto the upper endsofthe `grids. The inertmaterial for this holder may be any that is-suitable-.and properlyporous and absorbent, and is by preference hygroscopic. A mixture of. 3to 4 parts of silicious earth and 1 part of plaster 0f Paris will servethe purpose. YThis mixture may be triturated with the liquid electrolyteand the saturated mixture is poured into the container, therebyembedding the elements 8 and 13 and the tubes 15. Thereupon a pad I7 ofporous material, such as felt, is introduced to cover-the filler V16 andretainb it against dislodgment; and a porous or perforated diaphragm 18,whichmay be hard rubber, numerously perforated, is a plied over theporous pad. A washer 19, ot) hard rubber, or the like, bears against thediaphragniA and supports a cover '20, of like material; and a' suitablesubstance 21, such as wax, is lilled upon the cover`- into the containerto seal the latter. The parts 17,

18 and 20 contain openings to adapt them to be applied over thebinding-posts; and the cover 20 and wax 21 surround a centralinternally-threaded tube 22, preferably of hard rubber, bearing againstthe diaphragm 18 and provided in its inner end with openings 23,to'receive a threaded cap or stopper 24, which may be of the samematerial and is provided with vent-passages 25.

rlhe Wall of the annular gasket 19 is of a height to form a chamber 26between the members 18 and 20. li-he gases generated in charging thebattery pass through the retainer 17 and perforated diaphragm 18 intothe chamber and escape freel through the vented cap. 'llhese gases swellthe volume of the liquid electrolyte, causing 4it to overiovv throughthe members 17 and 18 into the chamber and be stored therein instead ofoverdowing and spillin out of the container with resultant Waste l lossand impoverishment of the cell; and when the gas-generation hassubsided, the liquid electrolyte resumes its normal volume and thestored portion thereof returns from the chamber 26 into the holder 16Within the body of the container. o

Any surplus of the liquid electrolyte enters the tubes 15 through theirporous Walls and is stored until the liller 16 becomes so far depletedof liquid from any cause, such as undue exposure to dry or Warm air,that it absorbs thereofor replenishment, from the store in the tubes orreservoirs 15, on the principle of action of `the Well-known humidon Theconstruction thus described provides a practical commercial portable andrechargeable dry storage-battery, costing little more than the ordinarydry zinc-carbon p'rimary battery, and giving a much larger output thanthe latter of electricity, in amperes, volts and Watt-hours, Whilecapable of supplying a current practically as constant as that of aliquid-electrolyte battery.

Moreover, the loss of the liquid electrolyte in the use of my battery ismuchless rapid than the loss in free-liquid cells; and it possesses theproperty in an exceptionally high degree of retaining its charge onopen-circuit or intermittent work. Furthermore, the reservoir andelement embedding ller is suiiiciently solid and elastic to remainundisturbed and prevent disturbance of the electrolyte with which it isSaturated, in any position of the cell, Whether the latter be upright orinverted, and Whether the terminals be on the top, as represented, or onthe bottom.

medica l realize that considerable variation is possible in the detailsof construction thus specically shown and described and l do not intendby illustrating a sin le specic embodiment of my invention to e limitedthereto, my intention being in the following claims to claim protectionupon all the novelty there may be in my invention as fully as the stateof the art Will permit.

li claim:

1. A storage-battery comprising a co tainer and battery-elementstherein, a noni'loWing filler for holding a liquid electrolyte in thecontainer and embedding said ele-` ments, a vented chamber in one end.of the container, a iuid-pervious covering in the chamber-base coniningsaid filler, and a tube extending through and open at its inner end tosaid chamber.

2. A storage-battery comprising a container andbattery-elements therein,a nonlowing filler for holding a liquid electrolyte in the container andembedding said elements, a vented chamber in one end of the container, aporous retainer in the chamberbase and confining said liller, a{luid-pervious diaphra covering said retainer, and a tube extendingthrough said chamber to bear against said diaphragm and open at itsinner end to said chamber.

3. A storage-battery comprising a container and battery elementstherein, a noniovving ller for holding a liquid electrolyte in thecontainer and embedding said elements, a chamber in one end ofthecontainer,

a iuid-pervious covering in the chamberbase confining said filler, atube extending through said chamber to bear against said covering andopen at its inner end to said chamber, and a vented stopper in saidtube.

4. A.. storage battery comprising a container and battery-elementstherein, a nonflowing ller for holding a liquid electrolyte in thecontainer and embedding said elements, and a porous tubular reservoirembedded in said liller and operating to store liquid electrolyte Withinthe chamber and exude it therefrom through the chamber-Wall to saidfiller.

5. A storage battery comprising a-container and battery elementstherein, a nonflowing filler for holding a liquid electrolyte in thecontainer and embedding said lll() elements, and a tube ofV orousmaterial having closed ends and em edded in said ller to form areceiving and exuding reservoir for the liquid electrolyte.

WALTER A. CROJWlDlUS.

